Pak welcomes the bride

Gurinder Chadha's film is slated for release in Lahore and Karachi.

With all 'prejudice' now out of the way, the 'bride' is all set to arrive in Pakistan in all her finery. Upwards of 10 prints of Gurinder Chadha's Bride & Prejudice are slated for release in Lahore and Karachi, besides other cities across the border on June 2.

In the past few weeks, Pakistan has seen the premieres of two Indian films, the coloured version of K Asif's Mughal-E-Azam and Akbar Khan's Taj Mahal - An Eternal Love Story. But neither film has had locals scrambling for tickets.

Says distributor Hammad Chaudhary, who has the Pakistani theatrical rights to Bride & Prejudice: "People in my country are keener to watch the Shah Rukh Khans, Aishwarya Rais and Rani Mukerjis. Nobody in Pakistan knows Zulfi Syed or Sonya (Jehan)."

"The release of Bride & Prejudice will therefore be a test case," says Chaudhary. Aishwarya has a huge following in Pakistan. What remains to be seen is whether that translates into commercial success for Bride & Prejudice.

Chaudhry's family, which has been in the film distribution business for over 50 years, has also acquired Pan Nalin's Valley Of Flowers and Jagmohan Mundhra's Provoked.

"But we aren't making any formal announcements yet because we cannot do so until the government clearances come through," he says. Clearly, the door isn't fully ajar yet, but it's beginning to open wider with each passing month.